Madagascar: Former Pfizer factory trades medicine for chocolate

New York Post, New York City, New York

When Peace Corps volunteers Tim McCollum and Brett Beach were in Madagascar a decade ago, they realized the African island nation had some of the best chocolate in the world, but didn’t export any of it.

“We fell in love with the country and wanted to do more,” McCollum explained. Madagascar was so poor, however, that few of the locals could afford to buy candy, leaving a new chocolate factory with lots of excess capacity.

One million bars of chocolate later, their company, Madécasse, continues to import and sell both chocolate and vanilla products that are entirely made in Madagascar. McCollum says making it all in-country multiplies the “value chain” and economic effects for the native people.